Malta Gaming Authority flags upgaming.com over false licence references

The Malta Gaming Authority says it has no connection with upgaming.com and that references on the site to the MGA, or to gaming licences said to have been issued by the authority, are false and misleading.

The regulator’s unauthorised-URL register gives the domain a notice date of 7 October 2026. On 30 October, the MGA published a wider notice naming six URLs identified during October, and upgaming.com is one of them.

The same warning covers reelfurycasino.org, uwin33myr5.com, winvora.io, brittsino.co.uk and jedar88-heng.lol. The MGA told players not to use a service unless they have checked that the entity is actually authorised.

Upgaming still markets an MGA-linked licence offer

Upgaming sells gambling software and platform services to casino and sportsbook operators. Its public site currently has an iGaming Licenses section that shows a Malta Gaming Authority logo and the wording “Curacao or MGA License.”

The MGA notice does not say which sentence, logo or page triggered the listing. For every URL in the 30 October notice, the regulator’s finding is the same: any reference to the MGA, or to a gaming licence said to have been issued by the Maltese authority, is false and misleading.

That matters for players because a software supplier’s branding is not proof that the supplier, a related company, or a casino using the software holds the licence a player is being shown.

OnyxioN holds MGA licences. upgaming.com is not on that record

The MGA’s authorisation record shows two active licences for OnyxioN Malta Limited: B2B critical-supply licence MGA/B2B/951/2022 and B2C gaming-service licence MGA/B2C/824/2020. The websites listed for that licensee are 31bet.com, 31.casino and 31bet.co. The record does not list upgaming.com.

Investigate Europe and The Guardian reported on 1 April 2026 that OnyxioN Malta is owned by Upgaming chief executive Tornike Tvauri. The same investigation said domain and corporate records connected Upgaming to Santeda International, whose casino brands were serving UK players without a Gambling Commission licence. Upgaming’s lawyers said Santeda had been a software customer, that the relationship had been terminated, and that a shared company name did not mean common control. They denied that Upgaming owned or operated those casino brands.

OnyxioN Malta also has a separate record in Spain. In a 3 May 2024 publication of final sanctions, Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego listed case ES-2023-030 against OnyxioN Malta Limited among nine very serious cases of organising gambling without the required Spanish authorisation. Each of those nine carried a €5 million fine and a two-year ban on obtaining a Spanish gambling authorisation.

What to check instead of a logo

The MGA warning does not mean every casino that uses Upgaming software is unlicensed. It does mean a supplier’s MGA logo, or a line about an MGA licence on a supplier’s site, is not proof of a casino’s own authorisation.

For a casino that claims MGA regulation, the check is the operator’s legal name and the website domain on the MGA register. If the company or domain on the casino site is not the one on that record, the licence claim should not be treated as verified.